Learn Hardcore Finnish: Lähden satamasta raitiovaunulla keskustaan. - I leave the harbor by tram to the city center.

Lähden is the 1st person singular present form of lähteä (“to leave, to depart”). The -n ending marks “I” in Finnish verb conjugation, so lähden = “I leave / I am leaving.”

Why is satamasta in the -sta form instead of the basic form satama?

Finnish doesn’t use prepositions like “from.” Instead, the elative case (ending -sta/-stä) expresses “out of / from” somewhere. Lähteä (“to leave”) requires its source in elative, so satama + -sta → satamasta = “from the harbor.”

Why is keskustaan in the -an form rather than keskusta?

To express movement “into / to” a place, Finnish uses the illative case. One way to form it is adding -Vn (vowel + n) to the stem. Here keskusta + -an → keskustaan = “to the city centre.”

What case is raitiovaunulla, and why is it used here?

That’s the adessive case (ending -lla/-llä), often used to indicate the means or instrument of an action. So raitiovaunu + -lla → raitiovaunulla = “by tram.”

How do I form elative and illative cases in general?

• Elative (jostakin, “from somewhere”): noun + -sta/-stä (satama → satamasta; koulu → koulusta).
• Illative (johonkin, “into/toward somewhere”): there are two main patterns:
– Short stems: add -Vn (talo → taloon; kauppa → kauppaan).
– Longer stems or loanwords: add -seen (museo → museoon; kirjasto → kirjastoon).

Could I replace raitiovaunulla with another transport mode?

Yes. Just put the vehicle in the adessive case to say “by …”:
• bussilla (“by bus”)
• junalla (“by train”)
• autolla (“by car”)
• pyörällä (“by bicycle”)

Can’t I just use English-like prepositions “from” and “to”?

No. Finnish replaces English prepositions with noun cases.
• “From” → elative (-sta/-stä)
• “To/into” → illative (-Vn or -seen)
• “With/by” (instrument) → adessive (-lla/-llä)